Optical waveguides – With splice – Fusion splicing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-25
2001-02-13
Sanghavi, Hemang (Department: 2874)
Optical waveguides
With splice
Fusion splicing
C385S097000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06186675
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a method for thermally fusing two mutually aligned optical fiber ends and to an apparatus for accomplishing the method.
Bringing together the fiber ends incipiently fused at their end faces can be particularly critical for producing a fused connection between the ends of the two optical fibers, which connection is acceptable as possible and, that is to say, to produce a fiber splice which has, as far as possible, the same cross-sectional geometry as is typical for the respective fiber throughout its entire remaining longitudinal length. Thus, for example, possible mispositioning of the fiber ends relative to one another leads to unacceptably high splice losses. A method by means of which it is possible to detect such mispositioning of two fiber ends to be fused in a fashion aligned flush with one another is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,259, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference thereto and which claims priority from the same German Application as European Patent No. 0 400 408. As disclosed, the two fiber ends are illuminated and an image thus produced of the fiber ends is scanned using an image sensor of a video camera. If the respective fibers have impermissibly high material deficits at the end faces, which can be caused, for example, by material vaporization, breaking-out of portions of the glass material, faults in the angular fracture or the like, it becomes yet more difficult for the fiber ends to be brought together and obtain an acceptable splice.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method by which the ends of the two optical fibers can be fused to one another as acceptably as possible and to provide a fused connection, which can be provided, as far as possible, with fiber cross-sectional geometry. In accordance with the invention, this object is achieved in the case of a method which includes incipiently heating the fiber ends, pushing the fiber ends inside one another in the fiber longitudinal direction beyond the end face contact site by a longer feed path, which feed path is determined by the departure of the end face shape of each fiber from a desired end face shape with the increase in the feed path being proportional to the increase in the departure of the end face shape from the desired end face shape.
Acceptable fusing of the two fiber ends is thereby rendered possible under a multiplicity of practical conditions.
The invention is also directed to a device for thermal fusing of two mutually assigned optical fiber ends, which is characterized in that the incipiently fused fiber ends are provided with displacing means which push the incipiently fused fiber ends one inside the other in the fiber longitudinal direction beyond their end face contact site by a variable feed path which increases in proportion to the departure of the shape of the end face from the desired end face shape.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5011259 (1991-04-01), Lieber et al.
patent: 5078489 (1992-01-01), Lieber
patent: 5226995 (1993-07-01), White
patent: 5581646 (1996-12-01), Tsukamoto et al.
patent: 5588087 (1996-12-01), Emmons et al.
patent: 5638476 (1997-06-01), Zheng
patent: 0 400 408 (1990-12-01), None
Sanghavi Hemang
Schiff & Hardin & Waite
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
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